Former Pump.fun developer sentenced to 6 years in prison for stealing approximately $2 million SOL from employer

On December 19, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) shared his thoughts on the question: “How Can Crypto Payments Ensure Privacy Without Exposing Transaction Histories?” “This is another challenge with cryptocurrency payments,” he noted. “In the short term, using centralized exchanges (CEXs) can mitigate this issue—though CEXs will retain this transaction data. Long-term, we need a robust privacy solution.”

On December 19, Forward Industries (FWDI)—a publicly traded company backed by Solana—is launching an on-chain stock issuance via Superstate’s Opening Bell platform. The firm holds roughly 6.8 million SOL tokens, valued at approximately $832 million.

On December 19, a U.S. court has once again been asked to review the practice of Maximum Extractable Value (MEV). A judge approved a motion allowing the amendment and resubmission of new evidence related to MEV transaction behavior in the class-action lawsuit against Pump.fun, Jito Labs, and the Solana Foundation. The plaintiff alleges Pump.fun used MEV technology to let insiders front-run new token launches at low prices, then pump up prices before selling to retail investors—who serve as exit liquidity for the insiders. Solana Labs, Jito Labs, and other parties are accused of facilitating this conduct.

On December 19, EmberCN monitoring shows a whale counterparty—who previously shorted after CZ disclosed ASTER holdings—is facing liquidation risk. The whale currently holds a **$237M long position** with a **$40.3M floating loss**, broken down as follows: - **ETH**: 57,100 units ($161M value) → Entry: $3,190 | Liquidation: $2,714 | Loss: $20.72M - **XRP**: 38.82M units ($69.98M value) → Entry: $2.29 | Liquidation: $1.63 | Loss: $19.03M - **HYPE**: 230,000 units ($5.19M value) → Entry: $24.8 | Loss: $0.54M This format aligns with U.S. English news brevity, clear data presentation, and avoids Chinese characters entirely.

On December 19, Decrypt reported that Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson recently said in an interview that former President Donald Trump’s launch of a personal meme coin was “disappointing,” as it turned cryptocurrency into a partisan issue and undermined bipartisan momentum in Congress. Hoskinson also pushed back against Trump’s proposed national strategic crypto reserve plan— which includes Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets— arguing the government should not intervene to pick market winners. He revealed that because he publicly criticized these policies, he was excluded from a private dinner with the former president and lost the chance to engage in the legislative process.

**Breaking: Bank of Japan Rate Decision Today (Dec 19)** The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will announce its interest rate decision this morning between 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM UTC+8 (typically around 10:45–11:30 AM). Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a press conference at 2:30 PM UTC+8. Market odds of a **25-basis-point December rate hike** have climbed to 98%. If the hike proceeds as expected, Japan’s benchmark rate will rise from 0.50% to 0.75%—its highest level since 1995, marking the end of Japan’s 30-year era of ultra-low interest rates. **U.S. Markets Jittery Over BOJ Move; Fed Cut Outlook Clouded** Japan’s renewed rate-hike signal is stoking U.S. market concerns, muddying the Federal Reserve’s rate-cut prospects. Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, with ~$1.2 trillion in holdings as of September. Wall Street fears rising Japanese bond yields will pull capital out of U.S. investments, pushing up U.S. Treasury yields. This year’s drop in U.S. bond yields h